Street roots., May 13, 2011, Page 9, Image 9

Street roots
9
May 13, 2011
ONE MAN'S WAR, from page 8
exercising his astoundingly creative
imagination.
Little by little, Hogancamp builds a 1/6
scale, WWII-era Belgian town just outside his
back stoop. Populated with Barbies as well as
military dolls and models, Hogancamp’s *
artistry can be seen in his obsessive
attention to detail, and the effort and
precision that go into creating the town of
Marwencol are staggering. The name of the
town comes from a combination of
Hogancamp’s name with two friends: Mark,
Wendy and Colleen.
In Hogancamp’s alternative universe, he is
an army pilot who crash-lands outside the
town Qf Marwencol. The town is solely
populated by beautiful women as all the men
have been killed in the war. Hogancamp’s
alter-ego opens a bar in the town and they
establish a neutral zone where the soldiers of
every nation can interact and drink and leave
the war behind for a time. Hogancamp’s real-
life friends are given doll-counterparts in
Marwencol and the constant threat of the
German SS soldiers provides Hogancamp
with an opportunity to re-live his attack over
and over. The. artist captures the history of
the town in his ongoing series of gorgeous,
narrative snapshots.
“It sounds like a couple of things
happened for Mark,” offers Edith Costanza,
an art therapist at Room In The Inn with a
focus on addictions. “I would say the. first
would be the release of his fear and his anger
and the reclaiming of his power. He is
perhaps re-framing the incident so he can
come to a place of understanding and
forgiveness in order to move forward.” '
In two major incidents in the film,
Hogancamp replays his attack through his
alter ego being captured and tortured by the
SS in Marwencol. Both scenarios are brutal,.
graphic depictions of what happened to
Hogancamp in real life, and both end with his
being saved by the beautiful ladies of
Marwencol. One of the rescue scenes would,
constitute one of the most violent displays in
American film if it weren’t portrayed by dolls
in still photographs, and the sheer bloodiness
of Hogancamp’s revenge-fantasies speaks
volumes about the therapeutic importance of
his creative exercises.
“Art is a safe way to. express oneself,” says.
Hester. “Art builds self-esteem. There is not
a wrong way to create. I have a small doll
cradle I have had most of my life. When I
need to think, I pull out that cradle and
paint The spindles have layers upon layer of
paint on them. Some have stripes. Some
have dots. All have my soul. No one looks at
that cradle and hears my thoughts but I know
they are there.”
Art therapy has proven to be particularly
effective at treating people who have
experienced violent incidents and even the
Army is prescribing art therapy in its
treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
A new PTSD program at the Landstuhl
Regional Medical Center in Germany
includes art-therapy among a battery of
approaches that the Army has deemed
beneficialfor these types of patients.
According to the National Coalition for
Homeless Veterans, nearly, one-quarter of the
nation’s homeless men and women are
veterans, and the lingering effects of
substance abuse, married to PTSD are
common among this population.
The calming, patience-training effects of
art-making can be crucial to dealing with
long-term therapy and counseling. As
psychiatric treatment becomes more difficult,
a patient’s ability to remain calm and
centered is a key to further progress. Its
ability to calm the anxious and reassure the
panicked may be the most important benefit
of art therapy.
“Across the board, people experience the
peace and calmness that comes through
creativity,” explains Costanza. “When you are
creating, you lose yourself and take a break
from your troubles and self-centeredness.”
Hogancamp’s photos of Marwencol have
gone on to garner attention and the
Marwencol film has sparked new discussions
about mental illness, addiction and art
therapy at websites like Huffington Post and
the Geek Pride blog at Psychology Today,
Near the end of the film, Hogancamp’s
best friend, Bert, relates a story about being
annoyed with a patron at Hogancamp’s New
York gallery debut. A man leaving the
opening commented to his date “C’mon, let’s
go look at pictures of real war.” Bertcomes
to his friend’s aid, insisting that “This is
Mark’s real war!” It’s one of the most tender
moments in a film whose moving message
has fostered growing awareness of the
compounded difficulties that make life on
society’s margins a day-to-day battle.
Catacombs
by Dee Allen
Those ancient, dusty tunnels and cellars
Hold the history of a city near Puget Sound.
Large constructs of rusted metal, dead technology
Victorian-era mechanical detritus, long-
Broken machines, giant gear shifts, steam engine parts
Line up along half-dark passageways
.
Passageways beneath Pioneer Square. Streets beneath streets
That were created after 1889, when a glue vet overturned and
Twenty-five city blocks became
Avenues of cinder and flame.
Wooden buildings were gone with the smoke.
The Emerald City re-emerged in cement and brick.
Hotels, ginjoints, casinos, house of prostitution
Found themselves underground.
The houseless escaped persecution above and
Found sanctuary and sleep in the tunnels.
Fiends scrambling through the cold, consistently
Rainy night satisfied their hunger
For opium in cellars few knew about.
The Emerald City’s life re-emerged in the catacombs.
All good things come to an end in 1905.
Everyone-avoided the catacombs
Like the plague.
Bubonic plague.
Scurrying rats’ only gift to humankind.
For decades, the catacombs were abandoned. Empty.
Condemned to dry, academic historybook pages.
Architectural feast for the curious tourist eyes.
The cement is barely holding the faded red bricks
Together. The wood and steel foundations still hold,
But show their age, even in blurry skylight’s
Scant light.
Those ancient, dusty tunnels and cellars
Hold the history of a city near Puget Sound.
Originally published by The Contributor,
Nashville, T en n .© www.streetnewsservice.org
THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY'S ROLE IN EXTENDING
TO END HOMELESSNESS IN WASHINGTON COUNTY
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he USA where some I r e doing very well, some are doing better e nd others are
ping Into poverty and homelessness.
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med by thé re ality th a t fd r some i t is the "best o f times, fo r others it's the worst
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turday, June 4, 2011 - 8:30 to Noon
dar Hills United Church o f Christ, 11695 SW Park W W , Beaverton
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